What does a master sommelier drink? Try these five value wines

Master Sommelier Roland Micu, Assistant Director of Wine Education, smells one of the wines selected for testing from the Vezer Family Vineyards at International Culinary Center, in Campbell, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. (Josie Lepe/Staff)

As a master sommelier, Roland Micu has one of the most refined palates in the world. But the assistant director of wine education at Campbell's International Culinary Center is still just a regular guy who helps his dad shop for value wines. Dad doesn't like to spend more than about $15 a bottle.

Micu, 28, points him in the direction of the great Old World wine regions, where generations of small family producers have been focusing on particular varietals or wine styles suited to the soil and climate for generations. Quality is high. Sticker price is not. Most any day of the week you can find Micu, a Santa Clara native, sipping wines from one of these five regions.